81 Fiat owner new to website

[topbuddy]

Hi: I have a 81 Fiat Spider 2000 and love it. It is a car that is fun to drive and reasonable to work on. I am a retired Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot/Navigator who along with my wife, Lynn are full timing it in a Winnebago. We recently sold our home in Nova Scotia and are currently in a nice RV park in Palm Harbor FL near Tampa.

We are currently looking for a means of towing our Fiat with the Winnebago, but drove it all the way from Nova Scotia to Georgia and as it started overheating we rented a U Haul trailer and brought it the rest of the way to Florida. The car began slowly overheating as we drove it down until near the Florida state line it began to red line. Since arriving in Florida I have replaced the thermostat, the hoses and the water pump, plus I have blocked off the heater core. It is still overheating. The radiator appears normal and the fluid is clean, however what is left? Any ideas would be welcome.
Thanks

Sam

[4uall]

Hello and welcome to the best place on earth My wife and I love going down east every year. This may help http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... on#p151901

[azruss]

Marathon Coach in Junction City, Oregon makes a covered one. If you want one of these, it will put a serious dent in your wallet.

[narfire]

Hi Sam.
Two things come to mind with the Fiat overheating.... you have air in the system and needs to be "burped" or the expensive thing is the rad is bunged up and you need another.
Does the fan come on when the needle hits 190? No, then I suspect you might have air . Check the fan works though by giving it 12V directly. Beek is in Florida, I know it is a big state, but he might have a used one kicking about that might work. I know I have several here, but kinda pricey to mail down your way.
Any water dripping from the water pump?
If the rad is all bunged up, I wonder how the coolant galleries would be in the block?
Enjoy the sun...and heat... ( we have sun at the moment but heat....nada )
Chris

[TX82FIAT]

best of luck in all your travels. Agree that with the comments about property burping the system. This can take some time the first time it is done and then it is easy going forward when you know what to look for. several quick methods discussed in the forum. Hope you do not need a new rad. if fluid coolant is flowing and clear I don't suspect that is the case.

As far as towing. you can tow the spider with the front wheels up on a dolly if you disconect the drive shaft. I have seen people tow them distances with the drive shaft wired up under the car with the rear diff free spinning. I recall there being a problem towing these cars a distance with the rear wheels to the ground and the drive train hooked up. I'd use a set of towing lights from harbor freight rather than wire through the cars system.

[topbuddy]

Hi Everyone:

Thanks to all of you for the response. I checked for an internal thermostat and do not have one. I did a burp cycle with the front of the car raised and got a lot of air out, yet it still did not seem enough and as the fan did not come on (bottom of rad only warm) I eventually had to shut down as the engine redlined. I have bypassed the heater by connecting the two heater hoses at the firewall, yet when I burped the rad I did not open the plug at the water jacket so will try that now.
I can't see what it might be beyond that.

The confusing thing is that the car was running fine on the trip down then slowly started to run hotter and hotter until it began to redline near the Florida state line. Prior to this the temp always remained 190, so it led to some confusion. There is a slight difference in the design of the external thermostat and I am thinking of putting the old one back on.
Thanks
Sam

[RRoller123]

Sounds like maybe crap was being dislodged and building up in the radiator along the trip and now you have some blockage?

[vandor]

Buy a 5/8" flush tee from an auto parts store (or buy it form me, but postage would be more than the part , put it in the highest point of the upper heater (now bypass) hose, and fill the system from there after the radiator is full.
If that does not work then you can try drilling a small hole in the t-stat's plunger, in the uppermost part, so air can bleed out toward the top connection once installed.

Another possibility is that because it ran hot the headgasket is blown, and even tho the cooling system is ok now, it overheats because of a blown headgasket. You could tell with a compression or leak-down test.

[Exit98]

Yeah, unfortunately I'm thinking head gasket too.

That's a long ride from NS to Georgia. If it was running good all that time I can't imagine why the cooling system suddenly went South without showing any signs of leakage. And it gradually got worse, not like a hose failed or something. Maybe water pump but you probably would have heard the bearing failing, and anyway you've changed it.

Have you looked at the oil? Is it muddy?

Good luck, hope it turns out to be something simple.

[topbuddy]

Many thanks to everyone for their helpful posts. I have completed another burping of the system topping up from the heater hose bypass plus I have put the old thermostat on and guess what? The overheating has stopped and all is now normal, I waited through 2 complete fan cycles and now the temp gauge sits where it should. Yahaaaaa! As to why, I don't know but will keep the new thermostat as a spare, it may be that when I changed it to the old one it also got rid of an air block. I am just glad that it is back to normal and I can enjoy the car again.

Sam

[vandor]

> you can tow the spider with the front wheels up on a dolly if you disconect the drive shaft.

Although the trans bearings are only lubricated when the input shaft (engine) is turning, one can safely tow a Spider hundreds of miles and leave the drive shaft connected. If it is going to be a long distance tow, I suggest that one start up the engine at every fuel stop.

[Exit98]

Csaba,

Just to be sure I understand, you recommend starting the engine at each fuel stop in order to lubricate the trans bearings?

Do you think the inclination of the front of the car would creat a pooling of the gear oil in the back of the trans, limiting its ability to lubricate the input shaft area?